How to Find Someone in an ICU

If you receive news that someone you know has been admitted to a hospital's Intensive Care Unit, your emotions may get the best of you, and you will probably want to contact the person immediately. More importantly, the person in the ICU will probably want you to contact her as well as the severity of her medical situation may leave her needing comfort from a familiar face. Locating a person in a hospital ICU is easy and is a fairly quick process; you just need to know which hospital the person is in.

Things You'll Need

• Patient's name

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Instructions

• 1

  Find out which hospital the patient is in. If you do not know the exact hospital the patient is in but you know the city or area in which he was admitted, you will need to do some searching. Go to Hospital Link and search for local hospitals. Browse through the hospitals' contact pages and locate the visitor services phone numbers for each hospital; call each hospital until you find the person you are looking for.

• 2

  Call the hospital's visitor services department. The visitor services phone number is often found on the hospital's website. If you are unable to locate the visitor services phone number, call the hospital's main line and ask to be connected to the visitor services department.

• 3

  Give the representative the patient's full name and ask for her location in the hospital. Since you know the person is in the Intensive Care Unit, help narrow the search and inform the representative that the patient that you seek should be in the ICU. Patient service representatives may ask your relation to the patient and your intent for wanting to know her location. Answer honestly as there is no need to lie; hospitals are understanding of the emotional turmoil involved with serious medical situations and are very accommodating to patients and their friends and families.

• 4

  Wait as the representative searches the hospital's patient database to locate the person that you seek. Once the representative finds the person, the representative will tell you where in the ICU your friend or loved one is located.

• 5

  Go to the hospital's main entrance; the main desk is often located near the main entrance. Tell the representative you are there for a patient in the ICU and need directions; provide the representative with the patient's name and room number. Some hospitals require that visitors get temporary passes before seeing patients. If the hospital requires you to get a pass, follow the instructions.

• 6

  Follow the representative's directions to get to the patient in the ICU. Ask the ICU representative (often located at a desk near the front of the department) if you are allowed to see the patient. Intensive Care Units handle medical cases that are serious in nature; depending on the person's medical condition, you may not be allowed to visit. Intensive Care Units often have restricted visitation hours, so ask the representative for a schedule.